New Online Running Store Collects Used Shoes

Kindrunner.com pays for shipping, offers $10 credit for shoes.

Talk about a Hat Trick. A new online running shoe store has introduced a way for runners to save money on new shoes while also keeping their old pair out of landfill and helping people in need.

Billing itself as the first socially responsible ecommerce site for runners, Kindrunner.com pays for consumers to send in their old pair of running shoes with the purchase of a new pair. Along with free shipping, the shoe donation comes with a $10 credit toward a future purchase and the satisfaction of knowing your used shoes will end up on the feet of a person who otherwise would have gone without.

“Kindrunner.com’s mission is to change the way runners think about how they use and consume their shoes, while rewarding customers with our eco-centric approach,” says Kindrunner.com’s co-founder Michael Conforti.

The donated shoes will go to two nonprofit organizations, Sole4Souls and MORE Foundation Group, which deliver used shoes to poor communities around the world.

“By finding a new home for worn but durable footwear, Kindrunner.com is transferring shoes previously worn by runners to those who need proper fitting footwear for basic transportation and protection from injury and disease,” says Conforti, who also owns three Sneaker Factory Running Centers in northern and central New Jersey.

Kindrunner also believes the effort also has an environmental benefit. A typical pair of running shoe pours 30 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere—an amount equivalent to a 100-watt light bulb burning for 24 hours for a seven days—and takes 100 years to biodegrade, according to the company website. If the life span of a shoe is extended, it keeps that pair out of landfill for a while.

While Kindrunner is an online shoe store, it aims to do more than outfit runners in their ideal shoe; it aspires to launch a social movement among runners.

“Runners are a socially and ecologically aware group, surely fit to spearhead a new humanitarian initiative that makes a positive impact on the environment! The Kindrunner Revolution has begun,” the website reads.